


Stuck Together

by acedavestrider



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 16:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17247185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acedavestrider/pseuds/acedavestrider
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and you've somehow ended up stuck in an elevator with your crush.





	Stuck Together

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from anonymous on tumblr: Theyre trapped in an elevator AU maybe?

“You could just try talking to him,” Rose is saying to you. She’s referring to Karkat, who you’ve been staring at from across the room for fifteen minutes. “That would be the normal thing to do.” 

“Who asked you, Rose?” you gripe, peeling your eyes away from Karkat to look at her instead. “And what the fuck would I even say to him? Hey, I’ve had a crush on you for a million years even though we’ve barely spoken to each other, wanna make out? Give me a break.” 

“I’m just saying, staring at him isn’t going to get you anywhere,” she chastises. “With Kanaya, I-”

You interrupt her with a hand in the air. “Don’t compare my situation to yours,” you tell her. “This is way different.” 

“How?” 

“Because you’re you and I’m me,” you explain. “You’ve got that whole femme fatale, graceful intimidation thing going on and I’m just… an awkward fucking idiot who doesn’t know shit. Okay?” 

She shrugs, unconvinced. “Whatever you say,” she muses. “Just try to enjoy the party, alright?” 

“I’m not making any promises.” 

Rose rolls her eyes and makes a pointed glance at Karkat before leaving you to greet more guests. You shake your head. What does Rose know? 

You look around awkwardly, now alone and unsure of what to do. You’re not a fan of parties, but Rose, always worried about how much time you spend by yourself, had insisted you come to her New Year’s Eve bash. Now you’re standing solo in a huge crowd of people in her high-rise apartment and you have no idea what to do with yourself. You decide to guzzle the rest of your champagne, and then find another glass, and soon you’re ready to explode from being around so many people.

You try to get into the bathroom for a moment of peace and quiet, but there’s a huge fucking line and you’re going to have a mild panic attack if you wait any longer. When you approach Rose, sweaty and on the verge of a freak out, she tells you there are bathrooms in the lobby and directs you to the elevator. 

You’re about to take a breath of relief inside the elevator as the doors begin to close, when suddenly someone’s hand threads between the doors and they automatically reopen. To your complete shock and horror, it’s Karkat, looking tired and irritated. He slips in between the metal doors with a muttered expletive and slides into the elevator with you. 

If your brain was about to panic before, you’re really about to lose it now. 

“Uh,” you say, because you’re a huge fucking idiot. “What floor?” 

“Lobby,” Karkat answers quickly. You press the button and he mutters his thanks. 

“Uh,” you say again. You wish you would just shut up. “Enjoying the party?” 

“Not really,” he grumbles. “I love Rose and Kanaya to death but everyone they associate with is a huge fucking prick who finds it necessary to flaunt their wealth at every given opportunity. It’s self-aggrandizing and annoying as hell.” 

You let out startled laughter. “I guess that’s just one of the side effects of having money,” you comment. “You have to deal with snotty rich people.” 

“Well I don’t have any fucking money,” he says. “So if anyone’s gonna deal with rich people who constantly jerk themselves off over how much cash they have, it’s not gonna be me.” 

“I think that’s reasonable,” you say. You watch as the numbers at the top of the elevator tick down and it feels like the longest ride of your life. You’re still sweating, probably more now that you’re near Karkat, and you hope he doesn’t notice. 

“You’re Dave right?” he asks suddenly. “Rose’s friend?” 

You swallow. “Uh, yeah,” you say, then correct yourself. “We’re cousins actually.” 

He nods. “Right.” 

It seems like Karkat’s about to speak again when the elevator shutters and makes a loud, concerning noise, then stops altogether. The lights flicker and the shitty elevator music cuts out for a second. You and Karkat glance at each other, a little freaked out, and when you press the button to open the doors they reveal a blank brick wall. 

“Well, that’s not good,” you remark as the doors slide closed. 

“No fucking shit,” Karkat says, volume raising. He comes over to where you’re standing and presses just about every button on the control panel, including the big red one that causes an alarm to go off. He fucks with everything some more until the alarm eventually cuts off, and heaves a huge sigh. 

“We’re stuck,” he says. “We’re stuck in a fucking elevator on New Year’s Eve.” 

You shrug. “At least it’s a nice elevator,” you joke, trying to lighten the mood. “Spacious. And we’ve got tunes, too.” 

“Yes, because my favorite genre of music is twinkly elevator bullshit.” 

“Here, I’ll just text Rose and-” You pull out your phone and stop when you see that you have no signal. “Uh, do you have any bars?” 

Karkat forcefully pulls his phone out of his jacket pocket and lets out a groan. “No. You?” 

“Nothing.” 

He throws his head back and groans loudly, then sinks to the floor in a dramatic gesture. You follow suit and sit with your legs crossed on the ground, fiddling with your too long sleeves, your fingernails, anything you can get your hands on. Karkat fucks around on his phone for a moment before speaking. 

“You know,” he starts. “This might be my fault.” 

You squint. “What do you mean?” 

“A few minutes ago I was begging the universe to get me out of attending this stupid party,” he explains. “And now we’re trapped in an elevator.” 

“You should be more specific next time,” you joke. “The universe is like a genie - if it can find anything in your wording that’ll fuck you up somehow, it’ll do it. Trust me.” 

He raises an eyebrow. “You’ve got experience with this?” 

“Yeah, I mean…” Your mouth starts running before you have the chance to stop it, “Like for example, I was just asking the universe to get me into a situation where I could talk to you and look where we ended up.” 

“Seriously?” Quizzical, not repulsed. A good sign. 

You swallow, realizing what you’ve just implied. “Yeah,” you say. “So this might be equally my fault.” 

“Looks like we’re both to blame, then,” Karkat concludes. He considers you for a bit, eyes sweeping over your face and torso. “Why the hell did you want to talk to  _ me _ ?” he finally asks. 

“Dude, are you kidding?” you say. You gesture to his whole body. “Look at you.” 

This makes him blush, just enough that you notice the tint of pink over his brown skin. You think you might’ve made him uncomfortable, so you start to backtrack. 

“And besides, you’re my cousin’s fiance’s best friend,” you recall. “Shouldn’t we like… at least get to know each other?” 

Karkat shifts and his button down shirt pulls taut over his broad chest. Your breath exits you all at once. 

“I guess you’re right,” he says simply. “Kind of fucked up that we’ve been in the same room like what… three times now? And we’ve barely spoken to each other?” 

“You can blame me for that one,” you say. “Talking to people isn’t my forte.” 

“Me either.” Karkat flashes you a little grin. “People tend to find me loud and abrasive.” 

“You do have quite the mouth on you,” you say, and you’re partly referring to his actual lips rather than his choice of cuss words. “I don’t think you’re abrasive, though.” 

“Well, make sure to tell Kanaya that,” he jokes. “Assuming we make it out of here alive.” 

You shrug. “I’m sure someone will notice we’re gone,” you say. “Or try to use the elevator and realize it’s broken?” 

“It’s New Year’s Eve,” Karkat states. “Everyone’s probably so shitfaced I doubt they’ll notice anything’s wrong.” 

“That’s the spirit.”

* * *

You spend two hours in the elevator with Karkat, making conversation. The longer you remain inside the metal device, the more colorful and angry his language gets, with long metaphors and interesting cuss words making their way into his sentences. You don’t find them irritating or abrasive, you actually think they’re kind of funny, and you bounce off of them with your own confusingly metaphorical language. 

You get to know him pretty well within the couple hours you’re trapped together. He complains about his shitty job as a secretary at a law firm and waxes poetic about romance films he likes. When he asks you what you do for work you show him the songs you mix and he nods his head along to the beat you play from your phone. 

“You’re good,” he tells you, with a little smile. “Really.” 

You feel warm all over. “Thanks, man.” And then, “I’ll make you a song one day.” 

His smile grows a little wider. “I’ll hold you to that.” 

There isn’t a lapse in conversation the whole time you’re stuck together, and you fall harder for Karkat the more he speaks. You find yourself only half-listening to his words, focusing instead on his broad hand gestures, the way his shirt shifts over his skin, the blush on the apples of his cheeks. He’s unfairly pretty, and only blushes harder when he notices you staring at him. 

Your phones still don’t have any signal - you check them every few minutes - but they still work for games. You take turns playing a cooking game you downloaded out of boredom one day, and you laugh as you watch Karkat get increasingly angry at the controls. You compete together to see who can complete a level the quickest, and you beat him by a solid thirty seconds. He hands the phone back to you and pulls out his own, then loads up an old-school Guitar Hero game that you play with your fingers. He kicks your ass at this one, and triumphantly takes his phone back when you monumentally fail at a level, getting boos from the simulated crowd. 

“Dude,” you say after you run out of games to play. “Do you think we’re gonna die here?” 

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic; someone will come eventually.” 

“I dunno man,” you drawl. “It’s been like, what, two hours? I think we’re fucked.” 

“It’ll be fine,” he says, and it sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince you. “Just… don’t tell me you have to pee or something.” 

“Fuck, why’d you have to say that?” 

“Dave, I swear to god, if you piss in here I’m going to-”

There’s a loud clang above you followed by a whirring sound as the elevator kicks back to life. You and Karkat both stand as the device starts moving upward, taking you back to the penthouse where the party is rather than the lobby. You reach up to high-five Karkat, but he leaves you hanging until the doors open up and show you that you’ve actually made it back to the party rather than another brick wall. You both sprint out of the elevator and back to the crowd, beaming with relief. 

“I’m never getting in a fucking elevator ever again,” Karkat announces. “And this apartment complex is getting a letter from my lawyer.” 

You laugh, but it’s drowned out by the huge crowd suddenly starting to chant, counting down from ten. You check your watch. It’s nearly midnight. 

“Guess we missed the whole party,” you say. 

Karkat is looking at you funny. “Guess so.” 

The two of you stand at the edge of the crowd, just watching as the countdown reaches zero. A burst of cheers rings out as the clock strikes midnight, and you feel a hand on your shoulder. Karkat is turning you to face him, but before you can say anything he’s planting a kiss on your lips. 

It barely lasts a second but it still sends heat draping over your body, makes your hands sweat and your legs shake. When you pull away, Karkat clears his throat and pointedly looks away from you. 

“Happy new year,” he mutters. 

You blink, swallow, and stand a little closer to him. “Happy new year.” 

**Author's Note:**

> just wanted to do a silly little thing for new years eve, this isnt even beta read or anything and i wrote it in like four hours so if it sucks.............. well you know why lmao
> 
> i take requests/commissions over on my tumblr, acedavestrider! feel free to send me something!
> 
> thanks for reading! hope everyone has a safe and happy new year :)


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